Abrasive Trees – Without Light EP (Shapta)

After writing a couple of lines for the latest piece of artistry by Abrasive Trees, I checked out the previous recordings. I was blown away by the number of ideas invested in each one of them. Therefore, I decided that this brilliant English post-punk act needs more exposure. Without Light is the second extended play that unquestionably demands your utmost attention, especially if you’re into profoundly detailed post-punk sound. If you’re looking out for flawlessly executed contemporary post-punk music, it doesn’t get better than this. There’s plenty of other similar groups out there, but for some reason, Abrasive Trees does it like no one else.

Without Light contains four beautiful compositions that are exploring far beyond traditional post-punk sound. Each number contains something special that will get instantly under your skin and force you to repeat this material all over again. Besides the sheer dominance of post-punk sound, you’ll notice vividly hearable involvements of goth rock, shoegaze, dream pop, psychedelic dark-pop, dark ambient, and cinematic ambient. Perhaps you’ll think that this is way too many genres stacked within a particular recording, but do not get fooled by it. Abrasive Trees know what they’re doing, and they’re doing it quite well. As soon as you press play and start listening to these songs, you’ll notice how many ideas Abrasive Trees invested in making this extended play.

Like many other post-punk records, Without Light also carries a particular dosage of melancholy, but for some reason, their version of melancholic melodies differs from those presented by the rest of the scene. Without Light carries more melodies, more harmonies, more chord progressions, more accentuations, and more ideas you could ever possibly demand from a post-punk rock recording. Just add a decent amount of abrasiveness borrowed from shoegaze and reverb/echo/delay effects borrowed from dream pop, and you got yourself a comprehensive collection of marvelously performed tunes. The psychedelic atmosphere comes from the beforementioned effects and wondrously executed segments performed on guitar. It’s nearly mindblowing how the calmness and aggression are continuously clashing throughout the entire material without spoiling the listening experience. The stable rhythm section liberates more than enough dynamics, so there’s a certain speed involved from scratch to finish. Without Light appears like the group spent a lot of time assembling each segment, sequence, moment captivated within these songs. The EP is still available on a compact disc, so I highly advise you to visit the Abrasive Trees Bandcamp page and grab a copy of this divine post-punk project.